Financial Misdeeds in Charleston County Schools Worse Than You Think

Financial mismanagement in the Charleston County School District is endemic and has been for years.

That's the take-away from Sunday's article on CCSD employees' long-standing contempt for school budgets planned by Michael Bobby, now ex-financial officer of the district, and variously-composed elected school boards over at least the entire administration of ex-superintendent Nancy McGinley, and probably farther. Perhaps we'll know the full extent when auditors fulfill the task of a forensic audit. And they're not even looking at the capital expenses of the district!

Exclaims Board chair Cindy Bohn Coats, "We had the exact same problems in our external audits year after year."

Huh?

Says Board member Chris Collins, "We had red flags all along, but the chair didn't want to do anything."

Says former superintendent McGinley, "No one told me"--or words to that effect. Remember Sergeant Schultz of  "Hogan's Heroes" fame?

Seemingly, many of the associate superintendents who reported to McGinley and principals they supervised saw the budget as a suggestion. Where did they get that idea, and who was running the show?

It turns out that the outside auditors used by the district for the last seven years were not even vetted by the State Financial Accountability Authority, as required by law, a "misunderstanding" suddenly occurring in 2008.

Some serious questions remain. Why did the Board, knowing of "financial discipline and reporting problems" continue to support Bobby with a contract extension and a raise? Why was it satisfied with appointing Bobby as interim superintendent? 

These are some serious questions that need answers. And Coats by her own words has shown herself not qualified to chair the Board.